Emerald Eyes
by Her-mee-o-ninny
Summary: Harry Potter is left after his sixth year in a state of confusion. He finds himself with nothing to live for after Voldemort is defeated and his friends begin to avoid him. Will love change this state of mind? Fairly short fic. R&R!
1. Chapter One: Lost

Emerald Eyes  
  
Author: Her-mee-o-ninny (but you can call me Danni) Title: Emerald Eyes Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Sigh...I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making money from this story. A/N: Hey everyone! Just to clear things up before I start, I have decided to use my title for another fanfic I had started and abandoned (Emerald EyesJ/L fanfic) and am now using it with this H/Hr fanfic. I have started and abandoned many fanfics before, but I hope to complete this one. Please make sure you read and review!! This will be a fairly short fanfic, but I still hope you all enjoy it!! Danni  
  
Chapter One: Lost  
  
A chilling voice splintered the night. "Avada Kedav—"  
  
A raven-haired boy, seventeen years of age, abruptly sat up in bed, covered in a cold sweat. He attempted to glance around looking for the threat that was miles and miles away from him, but the darkness of the night seemed to overwhelm his room. The boy reached over to his bedside table, searching for his glasses, however, the only thing that landed in his grasp was air. He quickly brought his hand up to his eyes and realized that he had, once again, fallen asleep with his glasses on. The darkness of the room made it impossible to see, however he knew that his spectacles had indeed cracked for a fifth time that summer. He took off his glasses, rummaged through the bed sheets to find his wand, and muttered an incantation to repair his frames. Even though the pitch dark appeared to engulf him, he put his glasses back on, due to mere habit. Meanwhile, he simply sat there in silence, thinking about nothing and everything.  
  
Then, realizing that he had been sitting in a blanket of darkness for what had seemed an eternity, he sighed and shook his head.  
  
"Some wizard you are, Harry," he muttered to himself before picking his wand up once again and whispering, "Lumos". With a small green light, radiating from his wand, the boy glanced around his room once again, this time able to see everything.  
  
His room was in utter disarray. Books, parchment, quills, robes, oversized muggle clothing, Quidditch equipment, and every other possible item Harry owned was strewn across his floor, desk, chair, and bed. A simple cleaning spell would have immediately fixed this problem, however at this point Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, didn't care. He wanted to have some normality in his life. It was what he had always desired. Harry had always wished to be a normal boy, with a normal life, but unfortunately, he was far from this.  
  
During the end of his sixth year, Harry had tasted normality. He had dated Ginny Weasley, Harry's best friend Ron's sister. Ginny's "schoolgirl crush" on Harry had indeed disappeared for several years, however by the end of their sixth year at Hogwarts, Ginny's crush on Harry had reappeared, however it had matured to a strong love for him. They had prevailed against Voldemort earlier that year, side-by-side along with Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, and the Order of the Pheonix, each friendship becoming immensely stronger. Harry had always liked Ginny, but always as a close friend. He had been deeply flattered, apart from being utterly embarrassed, by Ginny's interest in him, however these feelings never truly amounted to anything. Nevertheless, Harry had agreed to date Ginny after being asked numerous times by her rather annoying fifth-year friends.  
  
Harry had enjoyed their various dates, but something had always seemed missing. Unfortunately for him, Ginny didn't seem to feel the same way. She appeared to be even more in love with Harry, which made things extremely difficult for him. Eventually, Harry was forced to break up with Ginny before her feelings for him became too serious.  
  
Once this happened, things just didn't go well at all. Ginny was sincerely heart-broken. Ron, who had always been a brother to Harry, refused to speak to him. Neville and Luna seemed to understand completely, despite the small hint of disappointment they showed through their letters. Hermione...well, Harry wasn't sure about Hermione. She hadn't owled him since they had left Hogwarts, which was quite unlike her, even if she was upset with him. 'What DOES Hermione think of all this? I wonder what she's been doing. Heh, probably a jumpstart on homework, no doubt. Hmm...Where's Hedwig?' Harry thought to himself, squinting out the window in search for even a shadow to indicate where Hedwig was.  
  
Harry decided to simply start a letter to Hermione now and wait for Hedwig to return. He grabbed a piece of parchment from his floor, as well as a quill, and crept over to his desk with his lit wand in his hand, quietly as possible so as not to wake the Dursleys. Harry then flicked on his lamp on his desk, cleared away the pile of parchment and books, and put out the light glowing from his wand tip. He dipped the quill into the inkbottle he had left on his desk the day before and began to write.  
  
While he had been writing, however, memories flooded through his mind, the most vivid being of Sirius. Harry had at first believed numerous times that Sirius would be coming back, that Sirius was not dead. It wasn't fair that he had already lost his parents, but that he also lost the one person in the world that had been both a friend and a father figure to him. In a flash, Harry's dreams of having a somewhat normal life were over. Sirius's life was over. Eventually, Harry had given up on the hope of Sirius returning. 'Dead is dead, there is no coming back' he would say to himself. He had even turned his grief and guilt into determination to once and for all destroy Voldemort. But, now that he thought about it, what DID he have left to live for? He had no family, except for the Dursleys. 'Hmph...they can go jump off a bridge for all I care' he thought to himself. He did have friends, however they had all been distant, even if it had only been a few weeks since they left school. 'Voldemort's gone, which kinda eliminates saving the world' he muttered sarcastically. He had no hobbies, no goals, no reasons to continue on. 'Voldemort's been the death of me...' he thought, coming to his own realization. Suddenly, Harry chided himself for getting himself worked up. He wiped his mind clear and returned to his letter.  
  
After close to an hour, Harry had finished the letter. 'Take long enough, Harry?' he heard a voice say in his head. Harry smirked and looked at the window through which he spotted a rather abnormal shadow. In flew Hedwig, back from a midnight flight, most likely full from the various rodents she had found.  
  
"Hello, Hedwig." he greeted the owl, sleepily. Hedwig hooted happily and stuck her leg out for Harry. He had just realized that Hedwig had a piece of parchment for him. "Oh! Sorry Hedwig...thanks," Harry said, while untying the letter. Hedwig nipped his hand affectionately and flew over to her cage. Harry stood there looking at the letter, in complete shock.  
  
Around Harry, the walls felt like they were closing in. The darkness of the room seemed to enhance even further. Harry felt completely alone, and all from simply recognizing the messy handwriting on the parchment. Harry backed up, intending to find his bed before his knees gave out. Reaching for his bed behind him, while still staring at the letter he had received, Harry felt the mattress and slowly sat down. The utter silence was deafening. Harry opened the letter, his eyes darting down to the bottom of the letter. His suspicions were indeed correct. The letter was from Sirius.  
  
A/N: Sorry it's soooo short...but I thought this'd be a good place to leave ya for now. (mwa hahaha, lol) Please please pleeeeeaaassseee review!!! If ya don't review, my inspiration will be flushed down the toilet and I'll end up abandoning this fanfic too, lol. Good or bad comments are welcome. I'm tough...I can handle "constructive criticism", hehe. Next chapter will be comin soon!!! 


	2. Chapter Two: The Letter

**Emerald Eyes  
**  
_Author: Her-mee-o-ninny (but you can call me Danni)  
  
Title: Emerald Eyes  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Sigh...I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making money from this story.  
  
A/N: Hey again! Thanks for the reviews. Ya, I was actually planning on putting this on Portkey.org (I've read sooo many fanfics from there, hehe), but I just had to make sure u guys liked it first. Sooo, I guess it will be going up on portkey, eventually. Thank you so much for all of the reviews (and thank you for pointing out the mistake with "Alohomora". ::smacks herself:: I've corrected that mistake in Chapter One, now) Here's Chapter Two...hope ya like it!!_  
  
**Chapter Two: The Letter**  
  
Sitting on his bed, in complete shock, Harry continued to stare at the letter. Thoughts raced through his mind. _'Sirius? What's going on? No, Sirius is dead, I've moved on. I defeated that hope ages ago. Then how is it that I have a letter from my dead godfather in my hand at this very moment? How is it that I am staring at his name if he couldn't have written it?'_ Harry was so confused. This simple piece of parchment was ripping at every part of him that believed Sirius was gone forever. He had gone to his "funeral", he had visited his empty grave, and yet the thing he had always wanted, another chance, was grasped in his hand at that very moment. He looked up at the top of the letter and began reading.  
  
An hour later, Harry had reread the letter for what had seemed the millionth time. One single thought remained in his mind. _'Rest in peace, Padfoot'_.

A tear rolled down Harry's cheek as he sat there in silence.

  
  
A few towns away, a mass of bushy brown hair stirred, enveloping a girl of simple beauty tossing and turning in her sleep. With an exasperated sigh, she sat up, frantically brushing her hair from her face. She reached a hand over to turn on her lamp, which lit up the room in an instant.  
  
The room she was sitting in was immaculately clean. Not a single item she owned was out of place. Her school robes were neatly folded and stored in her trunk, positioned at the foot of her bed. Her wand strategically placed on her bedside table, along with her lamp and a picture of her and her friends. Books and books lined her walls, all in the correct order she had placed them in. Usually, her satisfaction with her room would put a smile to her face, but at this point, Hermione didn't care.  
  
She had lost numerous nights of sleep over what she considered "school-girl drama". Ever since Harry had broken up with Ginny, Hermione had been punished, beyond belief. She had never been one for "girl-talk", since she had always been with Harry and Ron. Now, however, Ginny forced Hermione to listen to her yell, scream, whine, complain, laugh, and cry about Harry, over the telephone that she had unfortunately learned how to use. Yes, she had always been somewhat of a friend to Hermione, but why her? Why couldn't Ginny just call up one of her annoying little friends she was always with? _'I'm sure one of those twits would consider all this nonsense much more interesting than me'_ she thought to herself, slightly annoyed.  
  
On top of listening to Ginny, she had Ron to deal with, as well. She knew that he was not talking to Harry, and she spent most of the time attempting to convince Ron to speak to him. _'But, of course, Ron had to be a stubborn jackass and continue to be...well, a stubborn jackass'_ a voice said inside her head. Hermione smirked, "Things never do change," she muttered to herself.  
  
Actually, one thing that had changed was that she hadn't spoken a word to Harry. Normally, she would have written to him every so often to catch up on things, but she hadn't even sent him one owl over a course of a few weeks. She certainly wasn't upset with him. She was far from it, actually. Hermione was proud that he had seen that he and Ginny just didn't share the same feelings. She had been quite annoyed with Ginny and her utterly annoying little friends. They had no idea who the real Harry Potter was. Yes, Ginny had fought with them earlier that year, but she had never had even a full conversation with Harry before. Hermione couldn't believe it when Ginny had actually asked her to ask Harry out for her.

  
  
_She had been sitting in her favorite chair by the fire, rereading_ Hogwarts, A History_. It seemed as though the fire from the common room fireplace was burning inside of her. Uncharacteristically, Hermione stood up, and strode out of the common room, without giving Ginny even the slightest acknowledgement.  
  
Ironically, she was so furious, that she had bumped right into Harry, sending herself to the floor with a thud.  
  
"Are you alright?" Harry had asked, concerned.  
  
"Wha-Oh! Harry! I'm so sorry! Ginny...I mean, I was just...heading for the library and..."  
  
"What about Ginny?" Harry asked suspiciously, and also rather forcefully. Hermione didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again.  
  
Harry sighed. "C'mon, I need to talk to you."  
_  
_Harry brought Hermione to library where they found a quiet corner to talk in. Hermione tried to begin, but Harry stopped her.  
  
"What is it with girls?!" Harry interrupted. "I mean, I'm just minding my own business, getting a head-start on homework for once and this group of five or six girls run up to me giggling and practically pin me to the wall. Why couldn't she just ask me herself? I just stood there like an idiot while they waited for an answer. Then, when I leave, they all follow me, shouting at me about how it would rip her apart if I said 'No'. And now—"  
  
"Harry!" Hermione interrupted. "You're rambling. You sound like you're almost in hysterics. Merlin, just calm down."  
  
Harry sighed. "Sorry, you're just the only person I can talk to and I really have no clue what to do."  
  
"Alright, let me get this straight. Ginny had her group of annoying little tw-I mean, friends come up to you to see if you would date Ginny. You don't know what to do, so you stood there for a while and then eventually left..."  
  
"Right, and then her friends started harassing me all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. They gave up right before I turned the corner and then bumped into you. Merlin, 'Mione, I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt Ginny's feelings, but I've never really considered her as more than a friend. She's always been "Ron's little sister". She's practically_ my _sister. It would just be awkward. I don't think I've even really talked to her, had a full conversation, I mean."  
  
"Well, what's your gut feeling? I know you don't want to hurt Ginny, but really, you don't want to make yourself miserable," Hermione said, trying to get him to make some sort of decision.  
  
"At first, I was shocked. Like I said, I've never really thought of Ginny as a potential girlfriend. When her friends were harassing me, though, I kept thinking about how I'd actually be normal, having a girlfriend. It sort of made sense. But, now, it just sounds completely ridiculous."  
  
"Well, you're somewhat making sense..." Hermione chuckled. Harry looked up, giving her a lop-sided grin. Hermione started to blush and quickly looked away, to hide her face.  
  
"Hermione? What should I do?"  
  
"I don't know, Harry. I'm not going to be the one dating, Ginny. Just go with your gut I guess. It's not like I've had much experience in the dating field," Hermione said, smirking.  
  
"Alright, thanks, Hermione. At least I'm not losing my mind anymore," he said, flashing another lop-sided grin. Hermione smiled back, and was surprised when Harry pulled her into a tight hug.  
  
At that moment, she knew why she had been so furious with Ginny. Hermione had feelings for Harry. Yes, they had always been the best of friends, but being in his arms just seemed right. It was almost unusual how right it felt. When she noticed that they had been hugging for what had seemed unnaturally long for even close friends, she pulled away.  
  
"I-I have to...go," she said quickly. Harry gave her a perplexed look before she turned and quickly walked out of the library, her mind racing._

Hermione had been ashamed with herself that even the memory of being in Harry's arms, caused butterflies to form in her stomach. She longed to be in Harry's arms again, even if it was only a hug between friends. Once Harry gave in, and began dating Ginny, she tried to avoid Harry as much as she could, without making it too obvious. A noxious feeling in the pit of her stomach always formed when she saw Harry and Ginny together. She was jealous, insanely jealous by the end of the year.  
  
She shook these thoughts out of her head, disappointed with herself. Why was she getting herself so worked up over a boy? This was not the Hermione everyone knew, or at least thought they knew. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she walked over to her desk, took out a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write. At first, she was writing to particularly no one. It was just another entry she'd add to her journal. Halfway through, however, she began directing the entry towards Harry, without even realizing it.  
  
After what seemed an eternity she stopped writing, looking at her writing, stunned. She had practically poured out her heart onto this one piece of parchment, everything about the one person that had been on her mind for the past few months, Harry. She just stared at the parchment for quite some time, before picking it up and frantically ripping it into a million pieces. She didn't know why she had done this, but she was so confused at this point, it didn't matter.  
  
A tear rolled down Hermione's cheek as she sat there in silence.  
  
_A/N: Hope you liked Chapter Two!! I know some of you may be disappointed that I didn't write out Sirius's letter that Harry had received. I actually had done that at first, but it really took away the impact of the last sentence in Harry's point of view, plus the letter just sounded completely ridiculous, hehe. Harry will explain the letter later on, so don't worry. Regarding POV's, I hope that switching to Hermione's POV wasn't too confusing, I tried to make it an easy transition, but if not, please tell me so I can work on it. Well, I think that's all. The next chapter should be coming soon!!_


	3. Chapter Three: Anger

Emerald Eyes  
  
Author: Her-mee-o-ninny (but you can call me Danni)  
  
Title: Emerald Eyes  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Sigh...I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making money from this story.  
  
A/N: Yay! Thank you all so much for the reviews!! You guys really are my inspiration, so pleeaasse keep reading and reviewing!! Thanks! Hmm...anyways, I'm glad my minor character development of Ginny and Hermione is appreciated, so far. Yes, I know that they may act a little different than from how they would in the Harry Potter series, but, hey, it's fanfiction, hehe. At this point, I end up just thinking of ideas for my next chapter until the reviews stop, and when they do, I start writing like crazy, trying to get you the next chapter ASAP. I've decided that I'll be posting this fanfic on Portkey after it's complete, so I can get feedback on it first and see what everyone likes/dislikes. Hope that's ok. Ok, so thank you so much for the reviews and here's chapter three!  
  
Chapter Three: Anger  
  
A ripping noise pierced the unusual silence of the house. A quite sob could be heard every now and then among the quick, frantic rips radiating from the room down the hall. A red-haired boy threw open his door and began stomping down the hallway to find his sister, in tears, sitting amongst a pile of shredded pictures, all of his best friend. Ginny looked at to see her brother, silent for just a moment, before letting out an enormous sob and returning to the stack of pictures behind her.  
  
Ron Weasley let out a sigh, pulled out his wand, and performed a silencing charm on the room. Utterly annoyed, Ron slammed the door, stomped back down the hallway, threw open his door once again, turned around and slammed it shut. This had been a daily routine for Ron for the past few weeks, but he still couldn't let go of his anger and apparently, neither could Ginny. 'How dare Harry say such horrible things about his sister and hope that they all could go back to being the best of friends?' Yes, Ron was stubborn, but in his eyes, even for being his best friend, Harry had gone too far.  
  
Ron remembered the day that Ginny came into the common room, her cheeks stained by tears.  
  
"Ginny," Ron had said, bewildered. "What's the matter?"  
  
"H-Harry b-b-broke up w-with m-me," she sobbed, stuttering from obvious prolonged crying.  
  
"What?! When? Where is he? What did he say? I'll go talk to hi-"  
  
"No!" she interrupted. "R-Ron, listen. H-H-(sigh)Harry said some horrible things and-and I really just want to go to my room. Please, don't make a big deal abou-"  
  
"What horrible things? Ginny? Tell me. I need-"  
  
"No! Leave me alone!" Ginny shouted before running up the stairs to her room. Ron tried to run after her, but it had completely slipped his mind that the stairs leading to the girls' dormitory didn't exactly approve of boys climbing up them, leaving Ron sliding back down the staircase and landing right in front of Harry.  
  
"Ron? What are you doing?" Harry asked, suspisciously, trying not to smirk.  
  
"I should ask the same of you!" Ron retorted angrily. "What are you on, dumping my sister and talking shit about her? Who do you think you are?!"  
  
"What?! I-Ron, what are you talking about? Yeah, I broke up with Ginny this morning, I know she seemed hurt, but I never said anything that should have upset her. Where did you get all this about me saying things about her?"  
  
"From her! Merlin, Harry, you've got some nerve lying to my face. You know what, I'm not dealing with this. Go find a whore to pick up on your way out. You obviously don't want someone like Ginny, who loves you!"  
  
And with that, Ron left the common room, leaving a crowd of Gryffindors staring at Harry, all with shock and anger etched on their faces.  
  
It was now a week before Harry's birthday. The boy with unruly black hair lay sprawled across his bed, attempting to free himself from the scorching heat from outside. Uncle Vernon had made him do yard work throughout the entire day as punishment for letting Hedwig outside during the previous day. Harry was forced into the blanket of heat where he mowed the lawn, watered the plants, weeded the garden, and practically everything else he could possibly do to improve the yard. He finally finished around five, went inside, and collapsed onto his bed.  
  
Just then, he heard a tap at the window. He rolled over clumsily and saw Hedwig. Harry lazily got up and stumbled over to the window to open it. Hedwig flew in gracefully, dropping a letter at Harry's feet, before getting into her cage to refresh herself with a drink of water. Harry looked down at the letter and saw Hermione's neat handwriting on the outside. He picked it up, sat back down on his bed, and began reading.  
  
Harry,  
I hope you are well. I am so sorry I haven't written to you all summer. I've just been quite busy with homework and I seemed to have lost track of time. From what Ron has said, he hasn't talked to you since your argument. I'm really sorry, I've been trying to convince him to be on friendly terms with you again, but of course, he just has to be a stubborn git as usual.  
  
Not to complain, but Ginny has been calling me practically everyday since I got home. She is driving me absolutely nuts. You really should speak to her. I don't think you did a good job "severing ties", if you don't mind me saying. At least try to talk to her for me? I've lost enough sleep over her phone calls as it is and at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if I died from sleep deprivation.  
  
Anyways, my real reason for sending you this (Hedwig seemed to have an idea that I needed to speak with you) is that I wanted to know if you would like to spend a week in London with me. My parents had been disappointed that they couldn't give me a big "sweet sixteen" party because I was at Hogwarts and they had asked if I wanted to have a belated (very belated) celebration by spending a week in London. My mother had done the same with her best friend when she had turned sixteen and figured I might like to do the same. They were somewhat concerned that the first person I suggested to bring was you, but they eventually agreed.  
  
I really do hope you'll come. We'll be leaving tomorrow so I'd need an answer as soon as you read this. If you can come, we'll be picking you up at 10:00 AM. Hope to see you tomorrow!  
  
Love from,  
  
Hermione  
  
Harry folded up the letter and put it in his pocket. He ran downstairs to find Uncle Vernon and Dudley watching the television in the living room. 'No, bad idea. Dudley'll blow it. Plus Uncle Vernon's an arse. Where's Aunt Petunia?' he thought to himself. He heard a clatter in the kitchen and quickly walked through the door, unnoticed by the two miniature whales seemingly in a trance, sprawled across the couch and armchair.  
  
He found his Aunt in the kitchen, picking up the smashed pieces of a china plate with a dustpan from the floor. 'Ugh...maybe this is a bad time...' he heard a voice say in his head.  
  
"Aunt Petunia?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
"What is it?" she said sternly.  
  
"I..." he started, "I just got a letter from my friend, Hermione, and she wanted to know if I could go on a trip with her to London for a week," he answered cautiously.  
  
"And..." she said suspiciously.  
  
"Well, I wanted to know if I could go," Harry answered as-a-matter-of- factly.  
  
Petunia looked as though she was in deep thought. She scrunched up her nose as if he sight of Harry made her sick.  
  
Eventually, she sighed, rather annoyed, and said, "When will you be leaving? Soon I hope."  
  
"Yes, tomorrow actually. At 10:00 in the morning."  
  
"Fine, go. You be grateful though, boy. If it were your uncle, you would've been locked up in that room of yours for the rest of the summer for asking such nonsense."  
  
"Yes, Aunt Petunia. Thank you," Harry said before quickly exiting the kitchen to run upstairs to give Hermione his reply.  
  
He grabbed a piece of parchment and frantically scribbled down his reply to Hermione. Harry called Hedwig over and tied the piece of parchment to her leg before sending her off.  
  
Harry then turned around and looked at the mess that had barely changed since the last time he had noticed it, which had been several weeks previous. He pulled out his wand and performed a cleaning charm, which he was quite good at by now. He watched as everything flew back into place, leaving his room spotless. He grinned happily at his now presentable room. He placed his wand on his desk and began packing for his trip.  
  
Instead of looking forward to visiting London in its entirety for the first time, Harry began thinking about how he was to spend an entire week with Hermione. He just hoped her parents wouldn't be tagging along too much during the week. He realized he was fighting off a small smile, while thinking of Hermione again. Harry mentally scolded himself and continued packing.  
  
A/N: Argh! Sorry that it's another short one, but it's just a lot easier that way. I hope you like the chapter. You'll be getting more info on what happened between Harry and Ginny eventually, so don't worry. I'll be switching between characters less now because of Harry and Hermione's trip, so it'll probably be less confusing too. Keep reviewing. I always like to hear that my writing is appreciated. Even if you absolutely hate it, still review. Constructive criticism helps in making a person a better writer :) 


	4. Chapter Four: Kidnapped

**Emerald Eyes**  
  
_Author: Her-mee-o-ninny (but you can call me Danni)  
  
Title: Emerald Eyes  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Sigh...I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making money from this story.  
  
A/N: Ya, ya, I know...last chapter kinda sucked. Sorry about that, I really don't have an excuse. I was pretty much just tryin to get the chapter to you as fast as I could and well...it sucked, lol. Nevertheless, thank you for the reviews. Keep 'em comin! Hope you like this chapter! I had a new idea, and figured , "Hey, why not?", hehe.  
_  
**Chapter Four: Kidnapped**  
  
It was 9:55 am and Harry was extremely anxious. He was pacing back and forth in his room waiting for the sound of a car, doorbell, knock...anything. He looked down at his rather dilapidated clothes (hand-me-downs of Dudley) and made a mental note to shop for new clothes, however unpleasant that may be. He finally sat down on his bed and gazed out the window.  
  
Harry's eyes widened when he saw a familiar middle-aged woman materialize on the front steps of the Dursley's house. The initial shock of seeing the zany, pink haired witch appear in front of his eyes quite fast, being used to apparition by now, however Harry was curious as to why she was even there. He had, despite his poor mood, made sure that he sent an owl to the Order every three days, sometimes just sending _'Dursley's are behaving'_ or most often than not, his crude sarcasm got the better of him by just sending _'Still alive'_. At that point, he figured that he might as well see what was going on, so he ventured downstairs (thankfully free of any Dursley) and opened the door.  
  
"Hello Harry!" Tonks exclaimed quite happily.  
  
"Uh, hey, Tonks," he said, confused by her happy tone. He had figured something must have been wrong. "What's going on?"  
  
"Oh, Harry! Can't an old friend come to check on you once in a while?" Tonks answered in an unusually loud voice.  
  
"Tonks?" Harry asked bemusedly.  
  
Tonks pulled Harry into a tight hug and whispered, "Don't blow it, Harry."  
  
"Wha-?" he started.  
  
Tonks let go of him and said cheerfully, "Well, aren't you going to invite me in?"  
  
"Uh..." Harry said, his confusion multiplying. He moved aside to let the witch in and he closed the door behind her.  
  
Tonks muttered a charm to make sure no one could hear their conversation and turned to Harry, now with a quite serious face.  
  
"Tonks? What's going on?" he repeated.  
  
"Alright, we don't have much time, so I'll explain quickly," Tonks said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Harry, Hermione's been taken. We've been keeping an eye on her as much as you lately. I know you thought the war was over, as well as most everyone else, however the Order has always believed that the war will never be over. Our suspicions this time were certainly right. A new leader of the other side has risen and from what we've seen, she is even more powerful than Voldemort. We believed that Hermione would be a target and obviously we were correct. Unfortunately, one of our so-called trusted members of the Order had betrayed us and Hermione was taken this morning. She seemed to be on her way to see you. Is there anything you know?"  
  
"Ye-Yeah...Hermione sent me an owl yesterday. She said she would be picking me up to spend a week in London with her. The owl must've been intercepted," Harry answered. Guilt swept throughout his body.  
  
"Yes, that's what we suspected. Well, grab your cloak, we need to leave," she said quickly.  
  
Harry searched through his trunk for his school robes and pulled one out. Tonks sigh exasperatedly and said, "No, no, your invisibility cloak!" She hurried over to his trunk, pushed him aside, and rummaged through his trunk to find the cloak. She packed everything back up, shrunk his luggage with a flick of her wand before placing it all in her pocket, and threw the invisibility cloak over Harry's head. Tonks then opened the front door, turned, and yelled cheerfully, "Nice seeing you Harry! I'll come back with that in a few weeks!"  
  
They both turned and Harry noticed Mrs. Weasley sitting in a blue Ford Anglia shockingly similar to the one he and Ron had crashed into the Whomping Willow during their second year. Tonks walked over to the car to greet Ron's mother.  
  
"Hello, Molly! Right on time. I was hoping you'd be able to bring me. Hopefully I'll be done with these raids soon. Those poor Muggles..."  
  
"Yes, yes. The front seat is full, so you'll need to sit in the back, Nymphadora," Mrs. Weasley said with an innocent smile.  
  
Tonks shot her a look and opened the back door very wide. Before she got in, however, she bent down to say to Mrs. Weasley, "I'm changing my name." They both chuckled and Harry realized that Tonks was waiting for him to hop into the car. He quickly climbed in, immediately followed by Tonks, who slammed the door shut.  
  
Mrs. Weasley rolled her window up and said, "Alright Harry dear, you can take the cloak off now. It's safe in the car."

* * *

After a very long conversation with Tonks and Mrs. Weasley, Harry was properly caught up on the details of what had been going on. He was shocked that after being so confident that he had defeated the last hope for any evil left in the wizarding world, nothing had truly changed. Things, instead, had just gotten much worse.  
  
For the rest of the ride, Harry stared out the window, returning to his state of depression. The only time he truly came back to reality was when he realized the car had gone invisible after coming out of a dark tunnel in the middle of the countryside. The rest of the time, he continued to drown in renewed guilt. This time, however, instead of flashbacks of Sirius, his mind filled with thoughts of Hermione. _'I'm so sorry, Hermione. I won't give up on you.'_.

* * *

Her head was pounding. She tried to move, however her body simply refused to react. Hermione's caramel eye's fluttered open, stinging from the flashes of orange and red light flickering in front of her. A sudden wave of heat enveloped her body. Her eyes finally adjusted and she realized that a ring of fire surrounded her. Hermione instinctively tried to shout for help, but it seemed as though her voice refused to work, as well.  
  
A woman's voice could be heard over the roaring of the flames. Shrill laughter echoed throughout the chamber, sending shivers up Hermione's spine, despite the incredible heat.  
  
"Hermione, Hermione. What's the matter?" the woman's voice said tauntingly. "Surely the cleverest witch of her age would be able to realize that good never truly conquers evil. Oh, I'm sorry...you really did think that your precious Harry had finally defeated us all. Oh yes, Voldemort's gone, but he was expendable compared to myself."  
  
Hermione finally was able to regain strength in her body, now attempting to struggle against the invisible ropes that bound her.  
  
The woman sighed and chuckled wickedly. "Tied too tight, are we? Let me loosen things up a bit." The invisible ropes apparently "disappeared" because Hermione was able to move freely. She quickly stood up, but screamed when the ring of flames around her rose with a flash, blocking her view of the room. They just as quickly died down, allowing her to see her kidnapper. She was shocked by the woman's beauty, expecting to see a female version of the snake-like Voldemort. Instead, an attractive woman stood in front of her. She had long, sleek blonde hair and a perfect complexion. If she hadn't had an evil flickering in her eyes, which Hermione somehow suspected was not a reflection of the fire, as well as a horrible sneer, Hermione would never have guessed the purely sinister voice came from such a woman. The woman began to laugh shrilly once again.  
  
"Veronica Maleficent welcomes you to my humble abode, Miss Granger," she said bowing her head, while still staring at Hermione with a deathly gaze. Hermione stood frozen to the spot, one lone thought traveling through her mind, _'Harry...'_.  
  
_A/N: Yes, well as you can see, even though I may like reading "fluff stories", it bores me to write continuous fluff. Hope I didn't disappoint anyone and apparently, this story may be much longer than what I expected it to end up being. PLEEZZ Review!! Good or bad, it doesn't matter. I love getting feedback on my writing. It always helps. I also love hearing your own predictions on what might happen. Just anything you can think of, put in a review!! Thanks so much!! Next chapter'll be coming soon!!_


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